After our 2 hour flight from Krabi, we arrived in Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia. We quickly realized our current reading material is not well suited to the area, as Danny's book is called "God is Not Great" (with the most recent chapter entitled "Why Islam is flawed"), and Ashwin's book is mockingly designed to look like the Holy Bible (complete with leather cover, gold fringed pages,. and a red ribbon placeholder).
While buying tickets for the bus into town, the exceedingly nice salesman asked us where we are from. Ashwin told him California, to which he responded, "Really? You look Malaysian. You could be Malaysian." Due to the heavy Indian cultural influence of the area, Ashwin assumed the salesman was just talking about him. "You mean him too?" Ashwin asked, pointing at Danny. He replied with, "Yes, yes. Him and you. You both look Malaysian." Never in our lives have we been mistaken for so many different cultural identities. A taxi driver in the city even called us cowboys as he tried to make the sale. This was a bit more warranted given the usual Tilly hats we were sporting.
We spent the evening walking through the Chinatown marketplace a block away from our hostel. We walked all 5 blocks of the outdoor bazaar but could have easily walked the first 20 feet and had the exact same experience. There are 4 types of stores in this place - those selling fake designer purses, belts, shoes, or watches - and they repeat for 5 long blocks. If we had one ringgit (the Malay equivalent of 0.3 USD) for every time we saw a fake Louis Vuitton product, we would be upgrading to the Hilton down the street. Janet, Danny would like to know what you want for your birthday tomorrow, and be specific, because they have just about everything you could imagine here. It's like 5th Ave with 3rd World prices (and quality). Allie, any requests?
Not knowing what else to do with our evening hours, we got a bucket of Tiger Beers (it's what everyone else was doing, so why not?) and sat in a street-side restaurant for 3 hours, fascinated by the peoplewatching. This is a truly multicultural city. Even America is represented (albeit not very well) - while we were sitting there, two groups of traveling musicians played the Eagles' Hotel California four times. Slightly drunk, we came back to our hostel and watched an absolutely terrible Schwarzenegger film in the common area. Time for bed.
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As I retire for the night I checked your blog and noticed that there were no comments. Not wanting you to think your posts were not appreciated or even worse not read I felt compelled to make a comment. Enjoy Malaysia and it is quite strange how chameleonic you two are. Mom would be happy with what ever you wish to get her and the best gift is knowing you are both enjoying your travels and are safe and sound. She reminds you to stay hydrated.
ReplyDeleteOodles of love!
I feel bad that I didn't write yesterday. I'm a little under the weather. Anyway, your stop in "KL", as we used to refer to it, reminds me of the year my sister, Missy, and her family spent there while Oscar worked for Pacific Tin. The stories seemed so exciting and exotic when I was 16. I don't think they made/sold Louis Vuitton bags back then. Either way it is interesting to imagine you there. Like Janet I would gladly trade any souvenir for your health and safety and, of course, hearing from you regularly like we have been! Thanks so much. Love you both.
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